


A Chance

by InesStarkDowney



Series: The Future [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Father-Son Relationship, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Protective Peter Parker, Sad and Happy, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-04 06:41:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10270553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InesStarkDowney/pseuds/InesStarkDowney
Summary: It's been over a year since Peter got used to spending most of his days with the Avengers, his new family and with a happy Tony Stark. Peter couldn't see things get better than that, but he also hoped they couldn't get worst, just because they once had been worst. But, one day, Natasha goes to the workshop where Tony and Peter are, and Peter doesn't like it. Natasha never goes down there, unless... unless she really has to.Peter just hopes whatever she has to say doesn't take away his mentor's happiness.





	

**Author's Note:**

> After "The Future" my bitter self couldn't really let it be just a fic with a happy, moved on Tony. No, I really had to write more, make Steve come in the picture somehow, because, no matter what, there always has to be Steve and Tony. Once again, it's all from Peter's perspective, which is really a take on how I feel, or felt at the time I wrote this. 
> 
> Sorry if there are any mistakes :3

It had probably been the best year in Peter’s life, and the thing was, he would probably have more of these. Peter couldn’t get any happier, not when, now living in New York with aunt May, in a nice house with everything they needed (kudos to Mr. Stark), he got to go to the Avengers’ facility every weekend, to spend the greatest of times improving his skills at almost everything.

With Mr. Stark he improved his mechanic and scientific skills, not to mention the time he spent in the lab with Doctor Banner, trying to understand physics and chemistry to better his grades back at school. Then with Natasha he improved his speed skills and fighting tactics. Just after some lessons he felt the difference in the streets, underneath the tight suit Mr. Stark made him a few months back.

With the archer, Peter improved his aim that was more than helpful when running after some douchebag in the streets and he had to target him with his webs; but he also spent most of the time talking nonsense and laughing hysterically at the stories Clint told him. Mr. Stark used to say that Peter was getting under a very bad influence, but he always said it with this little smile that reached his eyes.

That was the best thing of it all. The time he spent with Mr. Stark alone, bonding over and over again at the littlest things. He came to know that Mr. Stark had a very sarcastic humor that seemed to suit him like a glove and that he was a genius in everything he seemed to do. Peter was always blown away, and he couldn’t really believe that his admiration for Mr. Stark kept on growing as the days passed by. But it was almost impossible for it not to happen.

Besides, Peter missed having a parental figure in his life and Mr. Stark was almost like a father to him. Maybe it was the way he tended to ruffle his hair and smile at him or how they got excited about the same things and theorized about Mr. Stark’s plans. All Peter knew was that he cared deeply about his mentor.

So when Natasha walked one day inside of the workshop, Peter got nervous right away. The spy never went down there, in fact, she admitted she tried to stay away from Mr. Stark’s inventions since they tended to explode out of nowhere. When she said that Peter laughed, and now seeing her there made Peter turn to stone.

Mr. Stark still hadn’t noticed her, keeping on talking to Peter, as he fixed his most recent armour. Peter no longer answered and just rolled the screwdriver in his hands nervously, looking at the floor.

"Tony?", Natasha called out for Mr. Stark, and Peter found a new sweetness in it. It made him worry even more.

Mr. Stark turned around stunned to see Natasha there and smiled right away, throwing an old rag over his shoulder and backing away from the suit.

"What’s up, red?", Tony asked pulling out a bench and pushing it towards Peter, who sat down right away in silence, wishing the Russian was not there. He didn’t know what she wanted to tell Mr. Stark, but Peter just hoped it would not snatch away that happiness that had been radiating in him for the last months. Peter didn’t want to see Mr. Stark get back to that sad man. Not after everything had been going so well for all of them. " What has gotten into you, Peter? You got so quiet. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of auntie Nat?"

Mr. Stark laughed, but Natasha looked Peter in his eyes, and Peter saw sadness pool there. Goddamn, it was going to be bad, wasn’t it?  
"We need to talk, Tony." Natasha moved a little and crossed her arms.

"Talk to me, then." Mr. Stark sat next to Peter and looked at Natasha, waiting for her to start. His brown eyes still shined, but Peter knew he was about to see it vanish entirely.

"Steve called. He says he will pass by to see the kids. He’s coming tomorrow, along with Sam, Scott and T’challa."

Silence engulfed the workshop and Peter felt his heart fall to the floor. Natasha swallowed dryly and looked down at the floor, waiting for something to happen. For screams to start or a fight about how Steve couldn’t come back. But Mr. Stark just smiled slightly and said:

"Yeah, totally. We should throw a little something; I don’t know… a barbecue? That’s the usual thing, right? Tell FRIDAY and she will get everything ready."

Natasha and Peter looked at Tony and saw how his brown eyes stopped shining with happiness and seemed to shine with unshed tears. Natasha didn’t know what to do but nod and get back upstairs as fast as she could, and Peter just looked at his mentor with a lump in his throat. Mr. Stark got up and picked some tools that were scattered around the tables, and put them in a box next to the suit.

"Mr. Stark… Are you okay?"

"Always, kid.", Mr. Stark answered, his back turned towards Peter and Peter shuddered. He didn’t like that answer at all. "Think about the future, kid. Remember? That’s all it matters."

Peter nodded silently and excused himself, seeing Mr. Stark sigh and lower his head, as he clenched his hands into fists and tried not to throw the tools in his hands against the wall. Peter knew when to leave and hopefully, he would know when to come back.

Later that night, Peter came down from his bedroom, worried sick that Mr. Stark had not come by his room to make sure he was comfortable enough. Even though he had been staying in the facility every weekend for the past months, Mr. Stark still had the need to see if Peter was okay. Peter assumed it was a habit of his, not just with Peter, but with the rest of the team as well.

Peter came to find him in the kitchen, sitting down besides Colonel Rhodes, with a glass of water and a pill next to it. Peter knew of the pills, he knew of the internal struggles of Mr. Stark and the help he tried to seek out to eliminate those struggles. Peter always saw him as this fearless superhero that could take on anything, never afraid of the consequences. Peter still remembered the bright smiles Mr. Stark used to give to the television. But now, Peter also noticed the eye bags that were usually hidden by glasses, proof of the fight he took on every night. So to see Mr. Stark there was not new, just the obvious broken voice he now had and the tears that might be falling in the dark.

"I never wanted him to leave in the first place, but now I don’t want him to came back either. I wasn’t ready to be left alone; I wasn’t ready for him to leave after I told him, to his face, that I needed him. I wasn’t ready to move on, because I wasn’t supposed to move on, do you understand, Rhodey? I don’t want him to come back. I thought I… I had taken a step further away from him. I told Peter, God, I told Peter to look at the future, because that was it. And now I am a scared little boy because part of my past is coming back.", Mr. Stark laughed as he choked on the tears, and Colonel Rhodes gripped his shoulder in a reassuring manner. If Peter could have told the Colonel not to do it, he would have, but he had to stand back and see his mentor sob harder.

"Tony, we all have our weaknesses. Things just don’t end like that, no matter what. Some things aren’t supposed to suddenly be okay after a couple of months. You can feel fine, happy, but if it comes back, you have every right to just… just feel, Tony. You don’t have to be alright all the time."

"Then how am I supposed to face Steve tomorrow? I mean, I don’t really have to face him. He’s just passing by to see the kids, right? Fuck…", Mr. Stark rubbed his eyes and sighed, drying the tears, "I need to stop thinking."

"I think that’s impossible, Tones. Who were you if you didn’t think all the time?"

"Happy."

Peter’s heart broke at that, and anger boiled in his veins, hearing the sadness that had haunted Mr. Stark for so long come back to his voice. If he could just erase that last day where Natasha had told him that Steve was coming back, Peter would. His mentor didn’t deserve any of the pain he was feeling. It seemed as if the world was always punishing him for something he had not done. Peter couldn’t really comprehend it, but he comprehended it enough for the following day to talk to Captain and set the record straight: He was to walk away from Mr. Stark for good.

The next day, Peter woke up to find all of the Avengers outside, all of them except for Mr. Stark.

"FRIDAY, where is Mr. Stark"

"Boss is in his workshop right now. He asked not to be disturbed for the rest of the day, and that includes you, Peter."

"Yeah, okay, I get it. I’ll make sure that happens, don’t worry, FRIDAY."

Peter didn’t let FRIDAY answer back as he quickly walked outside, where the Avengers were. Everyone was talking at the same time, but from all the people in front of him, Peter could distinguish Steve’s voice (he still remembered from that only time he had been face to face with him) and could see his head, the short blonde hair. Peter closed his hands in fists, feeling the same rage from the previous night resurface. He coughed loudly and crossed his arms.

The Avengers turned to him and as soon as Steve looked at him, something in him softened, which confused Peter but he had better things to do than think about it. Natasha looked at Peter and touched Steve’s arms, murmuring something to his ear. Steve’s gaze settled on him again, and nodding he walked up to Peter.

"Hey, Peter."

"Hey. I know you’re here just to see the rest of the guys, which is totally understandable, since they’re your teammates." Steve tried to correct Peter someway, but Peter couldn’t let him stop him now, not when he started and he had a lot of things to say. "Maybe you know because Natasha just whispered it in your ear, but for the last year I have been spending all of my free time with Mr. Stark, which, by the way, is amazing and you don’t even know what you’re missing. And that’s exactly the point here, because I have grown to care for him, like… really care. And I’ve seen him go from this sad man that couldn’t even handle his memories shared with all of you, especially you, to see him become happy and accept how things turned out. He told me all about it, you know? He told me how sometimes, people aren’t meant to be but it’s okay, because you had your time together and nothing will ever replace that, but you got to move forward and live your life. And that is stuck in my head forever, literally. Every time I look at Mr. Stark all I see is him fighting to be happy and try to get better. And everything was going alright! Until Nat came down the workshop, which, honestly, just made me this big giant mess, because I knew there was trouble coming for Mr. Stark, and I honestly couldn’t just see him lose it all again. But guess what? You came along and he went back to being that sad man I first met. So I am mad. I am super mad, man. If I knew I could take you, I would. But I can’t and Mr. Stark would probably get worried and mad at me, so… Yeah. Just to say that you messed it up again. Oh yeah, I also wanted to say this: You missed your big shot, buddy. ‘Cause that man, downstairs, was your big shot. Man, how dumb is that? You had it all in front of you and you blew it! I don’t care if Mr. Stark tells me that sometimes people need to look for what they need and not what they want, and I don’t care if he says that he was not what you needed, because I know that’s all bullshit. So, you better go back to wherever you came from, Wakanda or whatever, yeah, Mr. Stark knew it all along, and please, I am begging you, do not come back. Because Mr. Stark never wanted you to leave in the first place, but now he can’t stand that you are coming back, even if it’s just to see 'the kids'"

Peter took a deep breath and looked at Steve clearly, just to see him with wide eyes and a shocked expression on his face. All the other Avengers were looking at the two of them with the exact same expressions, but suddenly Steve’s expression turned pained and he looked down at the grass. The same burnt grass Peter saw Mr. Stark look at many times.

"I… I am sorry, Peter. I am happy that you have been there for Tony, that you have been caring for him while I was away. And… yes, I did all of those things and… I’m sorry. I really am. So that’s why I came back, because I need to fix things. So… Can you tell me where Tony is?"

"What?! Hell no! I won’t let you get any closer to him than you are now!" Then Peter was shut up with a hand wrapped around his mouth, pulling him back.

"He’s in the workshop. FRIDAY will give you access, I know it.", Natasha said, and Peter saw Steve walk inside the facility, as anxiety grew inside of Peter. He fought against the arms around him, as he tried to stop Captain America from breaking Iron Man’s heart again, he tried to protect the man he cared most about, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t and that broke him.

"Calm down, kid. Please, calm down. Steve is doing what is right for the first time in a long time. Just give them a chance."

At Clint’s words Peter stopped struggling and looked at Steve’s back disappearing. A chance, what Mr. Stark needed was a chance, the chance Peter promised to give him. Peter cursed and let his head fall forward, as he cried silently in rage. He could have blown it. He could have blown Mr. Stark’s chance away. Slim arms wrapped around Peter’s body and brought him closer to a chest. It was Natasha, he could tell. Her fingers ran through his messy brown hair in a soothing pace, as Peter held on to her.

"It’s okay, Peter. We know you love him. It’s okay."

He just hoped it would be okay in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, it's an open ending kinda fic, only because once I tried to write more of this, I tried to write a confrontation between Tony and Steve. But since I am too weak for that, I just pictured in my mind that things settled down between the two of them, since I was unnable to write it. So sorry about that. I know open endings can be frustrating sometimes.


End file.
